Role of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 1 in plant virus defense

Abstract

Objectives: Our BARD proposal on the impact of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 1 (RDR1) in plant defense against viruses was divided into four original objectives. 1. To examine whether a high level of dsRNA expression can stimulate RDR1 transcription independent of salicylic acid (SA) concentration. 2. To determine whether the high or low level of RDR1 transcript accumulation observed in virus resistant and susceptible cultivars is associated with viral resistance and susceptibility. 3. To define the biogenesis and function of RDR1-dependent endogenous siRNAs. 4. To understand why Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) can overcome RDR1-dependent resistance. The objectives were slightly changed due to the unique finding that cucumber has four different RDR1 genes. Background to the topic: RDR1 is a key plant defense against viruses. RDR1 is induced by virus infection and produces viral and plant dsRNAs which are processed by DICERs to siRNAs. siRNAs guide specific viral and plant RNA cleavage or serve as primers for secondary amplification of viral-dsRNA by RDR. The proposal is based on our preliminary results that a. the association of siRNA and RDR1 accumulation with multiple virus resistance, and b. that virus infection induced the RDR1-dependent production of a new class of endogenous siRNAs. However, the precise mechanisms underlying RDR1 induction and siRNA biogenesis due to virus infection remain to be discovered in plants. Major conclusions, solutions and achievements: We found that in the cucurbit family (cucumber, melon, squash, watermelon) there are 3-4 RDR1 genes not documented in other plant families. This important finding required a change in the emphasis of our objectives. We characterized 4 RDR1s in cucumber and 3 in melon. We demonstrated that in cucumber RDR1b is apparently a new broad spectrum virus resistance gene, independent of SA. In melon RDR1b is truncated, and therefore is assumed to be the reason that melon is highly susceptible to many viruses. RDR1c is dramatically induced due to DNA and RNA virus infection, and inhibition of RDR1c expression led to increased virus accumulation which suggested its important on gene silencing/defense mechanism. We show that induction of antiviral RNAi in Arabidopsis is associated with production of a genetically distinct class of virus-activated siRNAs (vasiRNAs) by RNA dependent RNA polymerase-1 targeting hundreds of host genes for RNA silencing by Argonaute-2. Production of vasiRNAs is induced by viruses from two different super groups of RNA virus families, targeted for inhibition by CMV, and correlated with virus resistance independently of viral siRNAs. We propose that antiviral RNAi activate broad-spectrum antiviral activity via widespread silencing of host genes directed by vasiRNAs, in addition to specific antiviral defense Implications both scientific and agricultural: The RDR1b (resistance) gene can now be used as a transcription marker for broad virus resistance. The discovery of vasiRNAs expands the repertoire of siRNAs and suggests that the siRNA-processing activity of Dicer proteins may play a more important role in the regulation of plant and animal gene expression than is currently known. We assume that precise screening of the vasiRNA host targets will lead in the near future for identification of plant genes associate with virus diseases and perhaps other pathogens.